Member of the Month: Sean Pavlik

In an effort to better know our members both new and old, we’ll be posting a brief introduction to one lucky JETAADC member each month. If you’d like to be featured as our Member of the Month, please contact Kat Kovacs at newsletter@jetaadc.org.

Name: Sean PavlikJET Placement: Echizen City, Fukui Prefecture. I taught at 16 different elementary schools over the two years I was on JET.Where I’m from: Near Nashville, TennesseeWhat brought me to the DC area: I had some friends and family in the area and liked how international DC is.

The funniest story from my time on JET (that’s fit to print!): Probably doing a zumba class in my town with a few ALT friends. The class was a third Japanese, third Brazilian and then other random foreigners. For Halloween, a lot of the other people dressed up in costume which was very random and hilarious. The Japanese woman in a gopher suit was probably my favorite.

The strangest food I’ve ever eaten: At a Board of Education bonenkai, I once ate a sea slug. Well…attempted to eat it. I politely asked my coworker for a tissue after giving it my best.

What I miss most from Japan: Onsen! How you can get practically anywhere in the country by train. The people.

Exploring Nagasaki, one of my favorite three cities in Japan.

The lesson I learned while on JET: How to balance my desire to travel with the desire to explore the area I’m living around.

The game my classes always went totally crazy for: Other than Fruit Basket, my kids always loved this celebrity game I created where we used Japanese celebrities’ birthdays and ages to learn “How old are you?” and “When is your birthday?”.

The perfect JETAADC event would be:Hanami under blooming sakura or attending a beer or street festival.

I knew I lived in Washington, DC when: I got stuck in traffic due to a Presidential motorcade.

Where you’d find me on the perfect weekend: A day outside of DC hiking and a day in town on a patio or at a beer garden.

Getting a glimpse of Sky Tree before leaving Japan last year.

The person I would choose to play me in a movie is: When I wore my glasses, I always heard in Japan that I look like Harry Potter so I guess Daniel Radcliffe? (Though I have a few inches on him!)

Two truths and a lie:

-I went to high school with Ke$ha
-I went to high school with Taylor Swift
-I went to high school

The question I’d most like the next Member of the Month to answer is: Who is your favorite Japanese TV personality?

Finding Totoro in the mountains of Fukui.

(Pssst. Did you miss our first couple Members of the Month? JETAADC, meet Andrew, Chelsea and Susan.)

September2017

Mansfield Fellowship Program Information Session

Established in 1994, the Mansfield Fellowship is an opportunity for mid-career government employees to live and work in Japan while developing professionally. Fellowship includes a homestay with language training as well as a ten-month placement within a Japanese government office.

This information session is available for those currently working in government or those who plan to be federal employees in the future!

The Mansfield Fellowship Program is administered by the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation, with the United States Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, as grantor.

You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who’ll decide where to go…

— Dr. Seuss, Oh, The Places You’ll Go!

Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today.